So a 94 Del Sol was just given to me, but has some issues. I was told that it had a blown piston, but the car was able to start (after having to recharge the battery) and it idled for almost 25 min. Towards the end whit smoke started to come from the exhaust and then the car shut down. I'm thinking this isn't a blown piston. Any ideas?

 

Blown headgasket, or less likely cracked head or block. If it has the D15B7 in it, replace the engine, once they blow a headgasket once they just keep blowing, if its a D16Z6 or a B16A3 then you can usually get away with just a headgasket and new headbolts.

 

Thats what I was thinking. My budget at the moment isn't too high. What recommendations do you have as far as an engine